1/16/09: My best friend Wendy and I both took off Mon, Tues, and Wed of next week to head to Washington for the inauguration. We booked the hotel back in October even before Barack Obama won the election. We both knew he was going to win! We also put our names on the list for tickets to the inauguration. Today, a woman named Rene from Senator Menendez's office called me and told me I had tickets. I have butterflies in my stomach just thinking about not only being in DC but being at the base of the capitol steps watching Barack Obama become our 44th president… Out of 30,000 people who put their names on the list, I have 2 of the 347 tickets. 

1/17/09: Wendy and I got on the road at about 6:00pm. Neither of us could contain our excitement. We were on our way to Washington (well, Baltimore for today) but you know what I mean! We sang and laughed the whole ride. We passed so many buses along the way. I couldn't help but to wonder... "Is that one headed to Washington?" We pulled up to the Hilton in Baltimore and there was a charter bus filled with people. The lobby was packed with teenagers checking in. The energy in the lobby (even though we were still 25 miles from Washington) was amazing… We had CNN on earlier and we were watching Barack Obama's train ride from Philly to Washington. Obama was standing in the crowds shaking hands and taking pictures. I felt like Barack is one of us... he's not unreachable... he's not untouchable… but he truly is one of us. But to be honest a part of me was scared that he was too out in the open. There's this fear that something might happen before Tuesday, but then I remembered God has not given us the Spirit of fear. So again, I can't wait to see Barack Obama standing on those steps and taking that precious oath to become our 44th president. Wow those words feel so powerful and I am so proud that I am able to write them. 

1/18/09: Everyone is telling me to write how I feel about this extraordinary event... well, how do I feel? I can remember being 8 years old, sitting in my third grade class... the year was 1988. My teacher, Ms. Meltzer, asked all the students to vote for who we wanted to be the next president. I do remember picking Jesse Jackson... out of all the pictures of the men who were running for president in 1988, he was the only one who looked like me. Then like all the little black children I wanted to be the first African American President. And now today 21 years later, I have the opportunity to watch a black man raise his right hand with his left hand placed on a bible to take the oath to be president of the United States of America…

1-19-09: Today is the celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday... so Wendy and I drove to The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture… I have never heard the "I Have a Dream" speech in its entirety in Martin's own voice. I sat there and really listened to what the man had to say. In less than 24 hours Martin’s dream that “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," will be realized as we swear in the US’ first black president. I just sat in awe as I took in our country’s history. 

1/19/09-1/20/09: In Washington, my cousin Arline Gibbs, who is well in her 80s stayed up waiting for us and let us stay with her until we needed to leave at 3:30am. It was so amazing to talk with her about the inauguration of Barack Obama; she had newspapers featuring our new president spread out on her coffee table and newspaper clippings of the event… After my cousin went upstairs to sleep I laid on her couch and drifted in and out of sleep... how could I sleep when in just a few hours I was going to witness history. My alarm went off at 315 and I bundled up. I packed my pockets with my hand warmers, Fig Newton's for snack, my bottled water, some cash for souvenirs, my camera, extra batteries, and my ID. This is it! I am about to see something people only dreamed and prayed for. My heart was pumping a little bit faster, the smile on my face was getting a little bit wider and the count down began! We got to the train station, parked our car and stood online out side of the Fort Totten Train Station waiting for the doors to open at 4:00am. As the crowd was let in you could feel the energy. Everyone was smiling at each other, taking pictures of the train station… Like a can of sardines, we all packed on to the train intently listening for the announcer to tell us which stop we were at. Judiciary Square… at last we were in line... So, what do you do at 430 in the morning surrounded by thousands of other people waiting for history to happen... you laugh, tell jokes, find out where everyone is from and take lots and lots of pictures. It was 430am, about 20 degrees with a wind chill of ridiculously cold, and we were only on hour one of a 14 hour day of standing and I couldn't have been happier. 

Live at the Inauguration

At about 830 the police opened the purple gates and we were able to go through the check point. We emptied our pockets, walked through metal detectors, and we ran to the very edge the purple section gate. We just stood there with bright smiles on our faces. Imagine someone has a camera and tells you to say cheese and they are about to take your picture…, but they never take the picture. I had an eternal smile on my face that nothing was about to wipe away and so did everyone around me. The sun was finally out and the excitement was electric.   I know I am leaving out so much of what happened that day, the people I met and so many stories I could tell, but 7 and a half hours after first getting on line on the cold morning of January 20th Barack Obama stepped in front of Chief Justice Roberts with his wife Michelle by his side and he place his left hand on the Lincoln Bible. Barack Obama raised his right hand and 34 seconds later he was and is our 44th president. The cheers were so loud and almost all the cheeks of the people around me were wet. It has been such a long journey but it feels good to end this writing knowing that Barack Obama is my and your 44th President.